By IANS,
New Delhi : Intensifying India’s outreach in Central Asia, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will go to Tajikistan on a two-day visit next week and will also hold a meeting of the heads of Indian missions from countries in this strategic region.
Krishna will go to Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, July 2-3, external affairs ministry’s spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here Tuesday.
The visit is aimed at accelerating India’s strategic, economic and energy ties with the region.
With a new focus on people-centric diplomacy, Krishna will hold a meeting of the Indian heads of missions from the Eurasian countries in the Tajik capital.
Over the past few months, Krishna has held such meetings of the Indian heads of missions on a regional basis in Singapore, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Madrid and Havana.
The visit to Tajikistan underlines India’s renewed drive to scale up its engagement with the Central Asian region.
Early this month, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed unveiled the “Connect Central Asia” policy at a track 1.5 initiative in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, which includes a 12-point roadmap on pro-active political, economic and people-to-people engagement with Central Asian countries.